Nationalism (Oxford Readers) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192892606 ISBN 13: 9780192892607

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Achieving prevalence as an ideology in the political and social ferment of late 18th-century Europe and America, nationalism first found expression during the course of such historical upheavals as the American and French Revolutions. Its founders and early sponsors--Rousseau, Herder, Fichte, Korais, and Mazzini--looked to nationalism as the manifestation of modern humanity's most essential aspirations: autonomy, unity, identity. Born of notions regarding popular freedom and sovereignty that had been gathering momentum for generations, it conjured up images of a modernizing West at once hungry for change and yearning for a return to age-old concepts of fraternity and ancient heritage. Since that time nationalism, having taken on countless different dimensions, remains a vital and dynamic force for change--whether for good or otherwise.
Despite only recently becoming the subject of scholarly debate, nationalism has been the focus of a truly prodigious amount of writing. This important Oxford Reader makes the topic more accessible by offering a broad, authoritative treatment of the key contributions to the subject, while giving unprecedented depth to recent debates and issues. Edited by two of the field's most influential scholars, the readings are representative of the vast array of experience and scholarship that have shaped the concept of nationalism for over two centuries. From Ernest Renan's What is a Nation?, written in the 1880s, to the more current views of the 1990s, Nationalism gathers under one cover an impressive array of writing on everything from imagined communities to ethno-regional movements. In no other volume will students of politics, history, sociology, anthropology, international relations, and cultural studies have access to such a definitive appraisal of one of the modern world's most influential--and explosive--ideas.

About this title

From the Back Cover

For the last two centuries, nationalism has been a central feature of society and politics. Few ideologies can match its power and resonance and no other symbolic language has such worldwide appeal and resilience. However, nationalism is more than an ideological movement – it is also a form of public culture which draws on much older cultural and symbolic forms.

This book provides a concise, accessible introduction to the concept of nationalism. It focuses on competing paradigms and theories of nations and nationalism, and analyses the subject in terms of ideology, theory and history.

The approach is broadly comparative and interdisciplinary, with concrete examples and a time-scale stretching from the ancient world to the contemporary global age. The book concludes with an assessment of the prospects of nationalism and of the transcendence of nations and nation states.

Anthony Smith's book will appeal to all those interested in this dynamic subject, including students and scholars of anthropology, sociology, history, politics and international relations.

About the Author

Anthony Smith is Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics. John Hutchinson is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities at Griffith University, Brisbane.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0192892606
• ISBN 13: 9780192892607
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 392
• Editor: Hutchinson John, Smith Anthony